30 Seconds to Mars' emo-rific video

I just can't take Jared Leto's new project, 30 Seconds to Mars,
seriously. He's always taken on some off-key, dark movies, but the
eyeliner, the hair? Quit trying so hard!

I got the opportunity to see the debut of his band's new video on MTV. It was the edited three minute version though. The real gem is that the full-length video is 13 minutes long and available for your viewing torture pleasure on MTV.com.

A little bit of overkill, don't ya think?

The video starts with some Chinese (I think) advisers telling a kid emperor that since it's his birthday he gets whatever he wants. They offer him the 'fire from the sun' and the 'ice from the stars.' He whispers something to the advisers and we flash to the band that is in a completely white room.

Apparently the little bugger has terrible taste in music and requested 30 Seconds. In an overly melodramatic scene, they pass through some flag-wielding soldiers and the song starts. Most of the singing shots are them on the stairs in front of a palace of some sort...it screams AFI rip-off (i.e. their 'Miss Murder' video).

They are presented to the emperor and given a 'gift' and the music abruptly starts again. I don't know what the hell the scrolls they were handed said but they dress up in samurai gear and assemble for some sort of fight that I assume is in a traditional fashion (I know NOTHING about Asian culture). There are some random shots of people in masks, in stocks and some guy whipping himself mixed in and more AFI ripoff shots.

The last two minutes are actual credits for the damn video.

Maybe I just don't get it but it was really melodramatic and made zero sense to me. The video ends up being a piece of pretentious crap that just does not fit a band still building its fan base. They're going for something epic, but it just has 'huh?' written all over it. Perhaps Leto thinks his star power justifies it and will make it hit.

The most lamentable part of the video was that I will never get those 13 minutes back *sigh*.

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